Officials from the United States Embassy and an independent observer from the US will monitor Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary election and referendum, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said on Wednesday.
However, the observers will not be accredited as formal election observers by the EC. Instead, they will independently observe the polling process on their own initiative, he said.
The EC secretary made the remarks on Wednesday following a meeting at the Election Commission building with US Embassy representatives, led by US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T Christensen, and Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin.
Akhtar Ahmed said no formal observer delegation from the United States would participate in the upcoming polls. Embassy officials and members of the independent team are expected to observe voting in four regions-Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattogram and Khulna.
He said the Election Commission has no objection to the initiative and will provide logistical cooperation once the observers submit their travel plans.
“They have informed us that they will share a list of locations they plan to visit, and we will facilitate their activities accordingly,” he said.
Responding to queries about movement restrictions on polling day, Akhtar Ahmed said such decisions would be taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which will determine the duration and scope of any transport restrictions.
During the meeting, US representatives were briefed on ballot paper design, the voting process, vote counting procedures and the training of field-level election officials.
The delegation also sought clarification on the counting timeline for both parliamentary and referendum ballots.
“They observed the overall process and commented that it is complex and labour-intensive, but they expressed satisfaction with the management system,” the EC secretary said.
Asked whether the US representatives raised concerns about violations of the electoral code of conduct, Akhtar Ahmed said no specific complaints were made.
Instead, the delegation sought information on the commission’s complaint resolution mechanism.
He said the EC informed them that complaint management cells, inquiry committees and judicial magistrates are actively working in the field. “Even today, we received a complaint from a district and promptly forwarded it to the returning officer for immediate action,” he added.
On security arrangements, Akhtar Ahmed said around 9.50 lakh security personnel will be deployed across the country at various levels during the election. The US representatives were briefed on the scope of the security operation.
He added that the delegation also inquired whether there had been any reports of excessive actions by law enforcement agencies.
“At this stage, we have no such information. If any incidents occurred, they were addressed locally. If specific cases are raised, we will respond accordingly,” he said.
The EC secretary also said he was not aware of Jamaat-e-Islami’s announced women’s rally scheduled for 31 January or allegations of attacks on its activists.
